Communion at Home

This Sunday during our CHURCH ONLINE worship service, we'll be taking the Lord's Supper together (though we're not physically in the same place). Be sure to be prepared at home with wine or grape juice, cups, and some sort of bread.  

Jesus introduced Communion on the night He was arrested as a time to remember (what He would accomplish), to celebrate (His eventual return), and to reflect (how we as a community of believers are impacted by these realities). He instructed us to observe this meal regularly until His return. Paul also taught about the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.  

In both Jesus' instructions and Paul's explanation, there was no mention of who was to oversee the Lord's Supper when believers observed this ordinance. The first church in Jerusalem had more than 3,000 people, so many believers likely had to assist in the distribution of the Communion elements (Acts 2:41, 47), although Scripture doesn't identify who this may have been.

Scripture does, however, provide some guidelines for participating in the Lord's Supper. First, only believers should participate. Communion is a way for believers to participate in the life of Christ. Since those who aren't yet followers of Jesus aren't united to Him, they shouldn't take part in Communion; it has no real meaning or value to one who hasn't yet been born again.  

Second, Christ's apostles would have originally overseen Communion in the early church--they were the first to experience it with Christ Himself. They were the most knowledgeable about what it was supposed to signify. Eventually, other leaders were raised up to assist and oversee Communion (Acts 6).  

Today in most New Testament churches, elders, pastors, or deacons are involved in the oversight of the Lord's Supper. Some churches require that Communion is to only be administered by those in the highest offices of leadership in the church. But the emphasis in Scripture is more focused on the attitude in which the Lord's Supper is to be taken and observed. In his teaching in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul wrote that believers were to examine themselves before taking Communion and only take it in a worthy manner.

At VBC, we aren't dogmatic about who oversees the Lord's Supper because Scripture doesn't appear to be dogmatic, other than that the person is to be a believer and conducts the ordinance in a dignified manner, worthy of the significance of Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, if a Life Group or family wants to participate in Communion in their homes or outside of a corporate worship service in one of our church buildings, they are free to do so, as long as it is overseen by a believer and handled with honor and reverence. 

Author: Tim Barley, Elder and Executive Pastor